Chapter I: Preface

This essay is a study in eighteenth-century English literature. The author disclaims any knowledge of the oriental languages and attempts no discussion of the ultimate sources of those genuine oriental tales that appeared in English in the eighteenth century. Such a discussion is not the purpose of this study. The aim here is rather to give a clear and accurate description of a distinct component part of eighteenth-century English fiction in its relation to its French sources and to the general current of English thought. The oriental fiction that was not original in English came, almost without exception, from French imitations or translations of genuine oriental tales; hence, as a study in comparative literature, a consideration of the oriental tale in England during the eighteenth century possesses distinct interest. Moreover the presence of this oriental and pseudo-oriental fiction in England,—as in France,—and the mingled enthusiasm and disapproval with which in both countries it was greeted, testify to the strength of established classicism and to the advent of the new romantic spirit. The history of the oriental tale in England in the eighteenth century might be called an episode in the development of English Romanticism.

No general survey such as the present volume undertakes, has before been made. Certain chapters in _Die Vorläufer der Modernen Novelle im 18ten Jahrhundert_ (1897), by Dr. Rudolph Fürst, approach most nearly to the present treatment and have given valuable suggestions; H. W. Weber’s _Introduction_ to his _Tales of the East_ (1812) contains useful data; M. Pierre Martino’s work, _L’Orient dans la littérature française au XVII^e et au XVIII^e siècle_ (1906), came to hand after this essay was practically completed, but has proved of distinct value; and M. Victor Chauvin’s monumental _Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes_ (1892–1905) is indispensable to any student of this subject. The _Bibliography, Appendix B, II._, pp. 294–306, of this volume gives the full titles of these and other books of reference to which I am indebted. None of these, however, gives anything except incidental or partial treatment of this subject. No attempt has hitherto been made to consider in a single survey all the oriental and pseudo-oriental fiction that appeared in England during the eighteenth century.

It is a pleasure to take this opportunity of thanking the many friends whose assistance I have found invaluable. This book is the fruit of studies begun under the inspiration of Professor George Edward Woodberry,—an inspiration best appreciated by those students who had the rare privilege of hearing his lectures and receiving his illuminating and kindly criticism. To Dr. Frank W. Chandler, Professor of English in the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and formerly Instructor in Comparative Literature in Columbia University, I owe my first definite interest in the English Romantic Movement. To Dr. J. E. Spingarn, Adjunct-Professor of Comparative Literature, I am deeply indebted for friendly criticisms and counsel. To Professor Jefferson B. Fletcher, of the Department of Comparative Literature, I am especially grateful for constant assistance during the past year—assistance as generous as it was helpful; without it I could hardly have brought my work to completion. To many of my fellow-students at Columbia University I am under obligations: to Miss Mary Gertrude Cushing, now of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Mount Holyoke College, for transcriptions made at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; to Mr. A. D. Compton, Instructor in English in the College of the City of New York, for notes on certain oriental tales; to Dr. John S. Harrison, of the English Department of Kenyon College, for assistance in research; to Mr. S. L. Wolff, Adjunct-Professor of English in the University of Tennessee, for a study of oriental allusions in the eighteenth-century periodicals; to Mr. Wolff and to Dr. S. M. Tucker, Professor of English in the Florida State College for Women, for valuable suggestions. I would acknowledge also the courtesies extended by the Librarians of the British Museum, by Mr. T. J. Kiernan of the Harvard University Library, and by the authorities of the Columbia University Library, especially Mr. Frederic W. Erb. For assistance in research at the British Museum I would thank my sister, Charlotte H. Conant; for similar work at Harvard and in the Boston Libraries, Miss Mary H. Buckingham. Miss Buckingham enriched my initial bibliography by examining the entire _Catalogue of Printed Books_ of the British Museum. Finally, to Dr. Duncan B. Macdonald and Dr. Edward Everett Hale I wish to express my appreciation of their kindness in lending me valuable books.

The Appendices to the present volume comprise _Appendix A, Notes_, chiefly concerning the indebtedness of Byron and others to the oriental tales; and _Appendix B, I._, a _Chronological Table_, giving full titles of the oriental tales considered, and _II._, a _Bibliography_ of the books of reference most useful in a study of this subject. Each book in _Appendix B, I._ and _II._, is numbered, and will be referred to in footnotes by number when it is unnecessary to cite the full title; _e.g._ in the footnote on p. 2, “Cf. App. B, I., No. 4, p. 269,” reference is made to the full title of the earliest known edition of the _Arabian Nights_, as given on p. 269. The date following the first mention of an oriental tale is, unless otherwise specified, the date of the first English edition, _e.g._ on p. 13, “1714” following “the _Persian Tales_ or the _Thousand and One Days_.” Complete lists of the oriental tales by the eighteenth-century essayists will be found in App. B, I., _e.g._ No. 11, pp. 271, 272, _Addison_. Unknown essayists are grouped, _e.g._ No. 12, p. 272.

M. P. C.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,
June, 1907.

CONTENTS

PAGE
INTRODUCTION xv
CHAPTER I
THE IMAGINATIVE GROUP 1
CHAPTER II
THE MORALISTIC GROUP 73
CHAPTER III
THE PHILOSOPHIC GROUP 112
CHAPTER IV
THE SATIRIC GROUP 155
CHAPTER V
LITERARY ESTIMATE 226
APPENDIX A. NOTES 257
APPENDIX B. I. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 267
APPENDIX B. II. BOOKS OF REFERENCE 294
INDEX 307